Sugrue, the David Boies professor of history and sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, wrote what is considered essential reading to understand the roots of Detroit’s socioeconomic problems: “The Origins of the Urban Crisis.”

Sugrue writes:

“Today, government employment, however fragile, is the mainstay of Detroit’s economy. At the beginning of 2013, the public sector directly provided more than 40,000 jobs in the city. Among Detroit’s top five employers are the city itself, the Detroit public schools and the federal government. By contrast, the last two automakers with substantial operations in the city, Chrysler and General Motors, employ only about 4,000 workers each.”

He goes on to say:

“Without public jobs, Detroit’s black middle class would have been a lot smaller, and the city’s decline would have been even steeper.”

Sugrue recently appeared on WDET’s “The Craig Fahle Show,” a partner to A Better Michigan. Listen to the interview here.

“Cities that are unlikely to get bigger or richer have two options. The first is consolidation. Residents of underpopulated areas are encouraged to relocate to other parts of the city, these neighborhoods are reinforced, and the abandoned areas are essentially mothballed, with all municipal services cut off.

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The second option, even more drastic, is divestiture. Historically, cities have grown by annexing neighboring communities. They could shrink by doing the opposite: selling off land in large tracts to private developers who would be responsible for providing their own municipal services (as they do in the suburbs) without the burden of city taxes and bureaucracy. Cities wouldn’t gain taxpayers, but they would divest themselves of unproductive land, and at the same time, people and economic activities would be attracted back into the urban vicinity.”

“Even if the city is able to wipe out much of its debts in bankruptcy court, officials in Detroit and at the statehouse will have to develop a much more comprehensive and far-reaching plan to deal with the city’s problems. ... Detroit once served as the engine that powered Michigan and a large chunk of the national economy. It may never regain its lost stature, but it does not have to be a symbol of failure.”